Thirteen Reasons Why

 

“In the end, everything matters.”

 

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Author: Jay Asher

Rating: 5/5

Started on: September 06, 2016

Finished on: September 08, 2016

Edition: Paperback

Published by: Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Fiction, Realistic Fiction, Mystery

 

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Clay Jensen doesn’t want anything to do with the tapes Hannah Baker made. Hannah is dead. Her secrets should be buried with her.

Then Hannah’s voice tells Clay that his name is on her tapes — and that is he, in some way, responsible for her death.

All through the night, Clay keeps listening. He follows Hannah’s recorded words throughout his small town.

. . . and what he discovers changes his life, forever

 

 

Looking for a novel that’ll give you goosebumps, an emotional breakdown, and will make you contemplate life for about ten minutes after reading it? Then I highly suggest Thirteen Reasons Why! I honestly went to the bathroom several times while reading this because, apparently, my bladder couldn’t handle the intensity TRW has. I actually attempted researching Hannah Baker’s tapes on youtube since Jay Asher provided a link, but I’m afraid it may not let me sleep. The novel alone made me awake for two nights! Now that’s an amazing novel by a great author!

 

 

“No one knows for certain how much impact they have on the lives of other people. Oftentimes, we have no clue. Yet we push it just the same.”

 

Hannah Baker was just another new girl in town with an ordinary life — living with her ordinary parents, studying in a regular school, hanging out with typical students who, like her, just moved in. Everything was going well. Until one rumor led to another rumor, which led to another rumor…and so on, and so forth. No one, nor nothing, could stop the snowball effect on Hannah Baker’s life — nothing but suicide.

Being fed up with everyone judging, belittling, and pushing her to be okay even when, in reality, everything is falling apart, she decided to end her life one evening. Everyone in town, especially Clay Jensen, was caught off guard. But that was just the beginning for Mr. Good Guy, Clay.

As Clay was on his way to his room one afternoon, he saw a package for him with no return address. Without second thoughts, he immediately opened the package. Inside was cassette tapes — Hannah Baker’s cassette tapes, in which she revealed every person responsible for her death, and what they did to her.

Desperate to know her reasons and his contribution to his long time crush’s death, Clay immediately began listening to the tapes, trying his best to absorb every information Hannah is telling them — what she’s telling him. And as he gets near the end of the dreadful thirteen records, Clay discovers something about Hannah Baker that makes him realize, everything. . . affects everything.

 

 

You may think “OMG she’s (me) definitely a sadist for giving 5 stars to a horrific novel like this!” but I am not. I highly appreciate novels about suicide because it gives me reasons to continue my life, and it makes me feel like someone actually understands the noise in my head. I’ve read three (or maybe four) novels regarding suicide, and this, by far, is the best one because Hannah Baker’s life is almost similar to mine. Also, even though this is a tragic, traumatic book, it gave me comfort — it gave me hope. Another reason is, TRW made me think about all the things I’ve said to people, and apologize to them. Jay Asher really enlightened me to be very, very careful with everything I say. This also made me keep in mind that everyone is going through something, thus being patient and kind is really necessary everyday with everyone.

 

I’ll definitely recommend Thirteen Reasons Why to everyone, especially to those who’s suffering from depression.